China says Britain’s political interference claims are ‘groundless’ and may be down to ‘binge-watching 007 movies’

The foreign ministry says it had no need to carry out such activities after MPs were warned about the activities of lawyer Christine Lee

The intelligence service MI5 says she had been acting on behalf of the Communist Party and offering financial donations to politicians

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British parliamentarians were warned about the activities of Christine Lee. Photo: AFP

Published: 8:37pm, 14 Jan 2022Updated: 10:01am, 15 Jan 2022

China has accused British intelligence of making groundless and alarmist claims after it accused a lawyer of conducting political interference campaigns on behalf of Beijing.

On Thursday MI5, the agency responsible for domestic security, circulated a warning and picture of Christine Lee Ching-kui to members of parliament which said she was “involved in political interference activities” in the United Kingdom on behalf of the United Front Work Department, a branch of the Chinese Communist Party.

On Friday, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin rejected the accusation, saying it was unnecessary for China to engage in “so-called interference activities”.

“Certain individuals might have binge-watched 007 movies and come up with unnecessary associations. It is irresponsible to issue hearsay alarmist talk based on one’s subjective imagination,” Wang said.

“We wish to see certain British officials refrain from issuing groundless accusations to serve a hidden political agenda by sensationalising a China threat theory.”

The MI5 alert was circulated by the Speaker Lindsay Hoyle after the domestic spy service said it had evidence Lee was facilitating “financial donations to serving and aspiring parliamentarians on behalf of foreign nationals based in Hong Kong and China”.

While Lee’s behaviour was currently below the criminal threshold to be prosecuted, British Home Secretary Priti Patel said the alert was put out to warn lawmakers about her attempts to improperly influence them.